Unlike most of the commentators huffing Republican congressman Paul Ryan's budget proposal – including an unusually dismal effort by the Economist – Politico commentator Michael Kinsley appears to have actually read the damn thing.
And the result? If it were a boxing match, a referee would have called it off after Ryan took so much punishment. Kinsley takes particular aim at the idea that Ryan's plan was – in the Economist's words – "brave":
What about the infamous "third rail," Social Security? On this, even the pretense of courage deserts our hero. Ryan wants to "force policymakers to come to the table and enact common-sense reforms." Then he wants to "set in motion the process of reforming Social Security" so that, "in the event that the Social Security program is not sustainable," the president and the board of trustees must "submit a plan" to fix things. He also wants to require by law that "congressional leaders … put forward their best ideas as well." (Can't you just see House Speaker John Boehner being hauled off to prison for secretly hoarding his best ideas for reforming Social Security?) Finally, Ryan proposes: "Move the conversation to solutions that save Social Security, thus providing the space to forge a bipartisan path forward."
In other words, he's not going to touch it.
Read the whole thing here.
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